BA's owner boosts profit, adds 16 jets at Iberia

[LONDON] British Airways (BA) parent IAG SA said second-quarter profit jumped 55 per cent and announced an order for 16 new wide-body jets at its Iberia arm after a programme of job and route cuts revived earnings at the Spanish business.

London-based IAG posted an operating profit of 380 million euros (S$636 million) before one-time items, up from 245 million euros a year earlier, Europe's third-largest airline said in a statement. Analysts had predicted 359 million euros, based on the average of six estimates.

IAG has eliminated 3,000 jobs at Iberia and scrapped its worst-performing operations while adding capacity at BA as chief executive officer Willie Walsh targets a 1.8 billion-euro operating profit by 2015.